The Long Way Home (Corps Security #6)(9)

“So long, coffee gods!” Riley sings, letting go of my hand so she can start dancing around the room.

Ella’s smile grows even bigger as she beams at Riley from across the floor. “I bid you farewell, Coffee Princess. Will you be coming to grace us simple folk with your beauty again tomorrow?”

“Silly El. Where else would I be? I work here, remember? My name is on the signs and alllllll the other stuff, you know,” Riley tells her, annoyed at the slightest possibility she’d have somewhere else to be.

“Oh my goodness, how could I ever forget? I guess you do kind of run this place more than your silly auntie. What would we do without a boss like you, Princess Riley?” Ella snickers, giving Riley a curtsey that makes her mouth open to release a huge belly laugh.

I laugh along with them, knowing how much effort I put into this business, especially with all the behind-the-scenes stuff I do at night after Riley goes to sleep.

Ella’s hours are a close second to mine. She cares about this business as if it were her own, which it might as well be since she bought shares in it two years ago. She’s more than just reliable. She manages the staff and scheduling like a pro and puts in more hours than I’d ask of anyone purely out of choice. I consider myself lucky to have found her, which is why I pay her so well. It doesn’t hurt that she actually does live here.

“Give me a call or text if you need anything later. I’m sure I’ll be up late tonight. I need to do some ordering for next week, and I keep forgetting the list at home,” I tell Ella as Riley skips back to me, taking my hand and pulling me toward the door.

“You got it, chickadee.”

Both Riley and I wear smiles when we push through the front door into the slightly chilled air, the sun heating our faces despite the temperature. I pull the door closed and step onto the sidewalk, happy to see—and feel—the sun rays beaming through the clouds and the rain long gone.

I only get two feet away from the door when my back tingles with pinpricks of awareness.

I know what this is.

Or, I should say, who it is.

I can feel him.

I’ve always felt him.

Even though I sensed him, it still shocked me when he was just there, almost out of thin air.

My step falters for a moment, Riley jerking my arm when I don’t continue walking with her peppy steps. I feel her turn to look at me, but I don’t look away from the man with his back pressed against the corner of the building. One leg kicked up against the wall, shoulders against the brick, both tattooed arms pushing his hands into the pockets of his jeans. He looks relaxed, but also … not.

As soon as his eyes lock with mine, I feel a shift in the air.

Even from the distance, however slight, I can tell a silent storm brews in those fierce dark-green eyes. It feels as if my heart will pound right out from behind my ribs, picking up speed every second he continues to hold my gaze. Other than his expressive eyes, eyes that I’m sure he has no idea give away so much, he shows zero outward sign that he is even as mildly affected by me as I am of him. It’s always like this. I would love to have just a small view inside his mind. Maybe then I would understand what goes on behind the silence.

Something tells me this man has tons of shadows floating within his depths. I feel it right down to the center of me.

Curiosity most certainly will kill the cat, but I can’t help but wonder what makes this silent giant tick.

Not that I have the guts to do anything about my curiosities.

Taking a deep breath, I try my best at a normal smile. No doubt my smile, however, is completely awkward and slightly off-kilter, making me look more possessed than polite.

“Hey. I know you, giant.” Riley snickers, covering her mouth with her tiny hand and smiling through her fingers up at him.

He breaks our eye contact and looks down—way down—at Riley.

“Is the weather up there different, mister?”

He shakes his head but doesn’t speak. I’ve never seen someone resist little bean.

“Do you hurt the trolls?”

He cocks his head but still no words come from his mouth.

“Do you know the trolls?” Riley continues as if his silence means something to her.

His blond hair, down now, moves as he shakes his head.

“Well, that’s good. Trolls are nice. They sing pretty songs too.” She looks back at me and smiles her beautiful smile. “Let’s go, Livi. I’m ready now.”

She’s ready now? God, this child. My heart swells every time she opens her little mouth.

“Oh,” I start, clearing the hoarseness out of my voice. “You are now, are you?”

“Yup,” she responds, popping the p.

“Well”—I look up at Drew—“if you’ll excuse us.”

I start to walk around him, but he reaches out and grabs my bicep with the most gentle of touches. I look down at his hand, up to his beautiful eyes, then back at the hand on my arm again. Repeating the motion twice more before finally settling on his eyes. I hear Riley giggle, but all my focus is on him.

“I’ll walk you.”

Wow.

Again, that rusty baritone voice sends a jolt through me like my whole body has been hooked up to the entire electrical grid of Back Bay.

“Uh, that’s very nice of you, but we’ll be okay. We do this every day.”